Missing Child
by SaraMcLane
Summary: On their daughter, Willow's, thirteenth birthday, Peeta and Katniss couldn't be happier. That is, until their son, Rye, goes missing. After months of searching, Katniss and Peeta finally accept the fact that their son is gone forever... but maybe a little too soon.
1. Missing Child

_**This is my first Hunger Games fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it! I've spent, like, a week, trying to come up with ideas for fanfictions, and I said, "Hey! Let's just do this!"  
Btw, this takes place around twenty years after Mockingjay, when Katniss's children are old-ish. Like, five years old, and thirteen years old. I do NOT own Hunger Games, Catching Fire, or Mockingjay. Suzanne Collins does. I wish I did, though! :)  
ENJOY!  
**_

It was Willow's thirteenth birthday. Peeta had baked her a lovely cake, and I'd bought her hand-crafted bow. I was laying in bed, and Peeta was holding me, just like he had when we were in the arena for the first time. "Our little girl's already a teenager," he whispers. "I know," I say. Our eyes meet. "I love you," I whisper. Peeta's lips linger on top of mine teasingly for a while, and he pulls me closer to him. His hands have just barely made their way up my shirt when the door creeks open. We jump off of each other and see our brunette daughter standing in the door way. "Were you guys just..."

"No!" Peeta and I yell in unison. Willow laughs. "Right..." she rolls her eyes playfully. "Anyway, mom? I was wondering if we could go hunting with that bow you got me," she says. I turn to Peeta, and he gives me a nod. "Yeah, okay. Just, not right now. Like, maybe in a few hours," I say. Willow smirks. "Yeah, 'cause you have more _important_ things to do," she winks, and runs out of the room.  
I laugh and try to get out of the bed, but Peeta pulls my arm and I fall onto my back. He straddles me and says deeply, "We _do_ have more important things to do."

About an hour later, I walk out of Peeta's and my bedroom. I head into my daughter's room, and find Willow looking through a book on her bed. She looks up and smirks. "Why's your shirt on backwards?" she laughed. My face turns red. "I, um..." I walked out of the room, took off my shirt, and put back on normally. I walk _back_ into Willow's room and sigh. "Got your bow?" I ask. She snatches the bow off her desk and holds it up. "Alright. We can go now," I say. Willow is excited to go hunting for the first time, but I'm worried about leaving Peeta alone at the house.  
"Are you sure you don't want to come?" I ask my husband, toying with his shirt collar. My son, Rye, tugs at Peeta's pant leg and whines. "No, I need to keep an eye on Rye," he insists. I nod. "Why don't you take him outside with your easels, and you can draw something?" I offer. Peeta looks down at Rye and asks, "Son, do you want to draw something outside with me?" Rye jumps up and down and giggles. "Alright then." Peeta brushes my hair away from eyes and gently kisses my forehead. "Be safe," he whispers. "I will," I promise.

Me and Willow run into the woods like young fawns. We leap over fallen trees and splash through the rivers. "This is so much fun!" Willow shouts as she hops over a log. I put my finger to my lips and stop running. I hear a _SNAP_ in the distance. "Come," I motion to Willow, and grab onto a low branch on a tree. I swing myself up onto the branch, and Willow copies me. We sit next to each other in the tree, with our arrows ready to fire. Suddenly, Willow let's her arrow fly, and it lodges itself right into Marvel's throat. I see a long bloody river drip down his neck as he tumbles to the ground, not too far away from Rue, who's bleeding to death on the ground. I let out a piercing scream that startles Willow, and nearly makes her topple out of the tree. I keep screaming bloody murder until Willow grabs a hold of my hand and says, "Mom, you're not in the games."

When I open my eyes, I don't see Marvel. I don't see Rue. I see a small rabbit beside a lake, with an arrow sticking out of its belly. I force a smile. "G-good job," I say. Willow frowns. Last year, I explained to her everything about the games, because Peeta and I had both started screaming uncontrollably in the middle of the night once. Now, when I go crazy on her, she's always there to calm me down. I wrap my arm around my beautiful daughter, and sigh. "I'm sorry," I apologize. "Don't be. It's not your fault you were reaped," my daughter says.  
I'm about to get out of the tree to pick up the rabbit, when I suddenly hear a familiar voice.

"KATNISS!"

My blood turns to ice, realizing its Peeta's voice. "PEETA!" I scream. "Mom?" Willow tugs at my shirt, just like Rye had done to Peeta. "Stay behind me," I tell her, jumping to the ground. Willow has just barely made it to the ground when I sprint towards the sound of my husband's voice. "PEETA!" I screech.

"KATNISS!"

I can hear the fear in his voice. The pain in his voice... I recognize it too well from the arena. Willow stumbles behind me and falls into a puddle. I help her up, and she looks into my eyes. Tears build up in hers. "Sweetie," I take her hand and run. "Mom, what's going on?" she cries. I don't know, so I don't answer. Finally, I see Peeta at the edge of the woods. I let go of Willow's hand and run into his arms. He holds me close enough that I can feel his trembling. "Papa, what's wrong?!" Willow demands, obviously done with waiting for answers. Peeta doesn't glance at her. Instead, he keeps his eyes focused on mine. "Rye is missing," he says.

It's enough to set me off. "What?!" I shout. "We were just painting those flowers over there and-" Peeta's voice falters. "He saw a butterfly and chased after it. He was just too... too fast, and he disappeared into the forest," he finishes. I fall out of his arms, crumpling to my knees. "No, no..." I cry. "He can't be out there alone. Peeta, we- we need to find him."

Peeta nods, but doesn't say anything. Clearly, he's in shock, just like me. I'm not sure how Willow is feeling, though. I look up at her slowly, and her eyes slowly meet mine. A shiny tear streams down her cheek. Suddenly, she takes off.

She sprints across the wet grass and into the woods. "Rye!" she screams. "Willow! Get back here!" I demand. She stops running, but stays where she is. "Rye!"

She turns back to me and narrows her eyes. "We need to find him!" she cries. "We need to find my baby brother."

Later that night, we sit by the fireplace with cups of warm milk, praying to see a pair of little grey eyes in the window. With Peeta's arm around me, like it is right now, I usually feel safe and happy. But not tonight. I feel cold, painful stabs of pain in my heart each time I think of my little boy. Willow finishes her cup of milk and walks to the kitchen, where she drops her cup in the sink. "I'm going to bed," she states, and trudges into her room.

I rest my head on Peeta's shoulder and look into the fireplace, where the orange flames lick the firewood. "We're going to find him, Katniss," Peeta whispers. I bite my lip to keep back my tears. "I was so scared to ever love anything again... worried that my loved ones could be taken away from me..." I start to say.

"Like Prim and your father," Peeta adds. I shut my eyes. "And when I finally let my guard down- when I was finally happy- my son goes missing," I say. Peeta holds me close enough to him so that I can feel his heavy heartbeat. "Katniss, I know you're shooken up by this- I am, too. But I think Willow is more scared than either of us," he tells me. I twist a lock of his golden hair in my trembling fingers. His blue eyes are enough to calm me down. "I love you," I whisper. "I love you, too," he says. Our lips meet in a passionate kiss, and I fall onto my back as Peeta slowly unbuttons my shirt...


	2. Birch

**Hi, guys. I know it's been forever since my last update, but with Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and tests coming up in school- let's just say it's been hard to find some time to just write. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter- there are many more to come!**

I awoke the next morning in my bed. "Peeta...?" I whisper, my hand feeling across the bed for his warm body. Realizing, he isn't there, I bolt upright and look around. "Peeta?!" I shout. I feel a wave of relief when he walks into the room. "Katniss?"

He lays down next to me and I instantly feel better. "Where have you been?" I ask. "Looking for Rye," he answers. He purses his lips, and I know that he's losing hope. "Where's Willow?" I ask. Peeta's blue eyes meet mine and he says, "In her room."

"I don't want her to do something stupid," I say. Peeta sighs. "What if she leaves the house to look for him, Peeta? You know how much she loves him," I stumble over my words. Tears build up in my eyes, as Peeta caresses my face. "She's smarter than that," he tells me. "Is she? Is she really?" I ask. Peeta shrugs. "I hope she is," he decides.

A few hours later, I find myself back in the woods with my bow and arrow. Willow and Peeta went out searching for Rye before I left. Meanwhile, I was hunting for our dinner.  
Walking around a lake, I hear the sound of flapping wings. Sending my arrow up in the sky, I see a small sparrow drop. It lands with a _plunk_ in the lake. It's not even close to enough for dinner, so I decide to keep hunting.

Then, I see the deer.

It's tall and meaty, and it's the first one I've seen in years. I pluck an arrow from my quiver and position it. My eyes narrow, aiming for the deer's white throat. The arrow lodges its head into the animal's neck and it topples over. A smile creeps onto my face as I run through the thickets of the forest.  
I crouch beside the deer and grasp its back leg. Its heavy, but I can carry it.

As I drag the limp mammal, something catches my eye: a small leather shoe. _Rye's_ small leather shoe. It's stuck between two big rocks. I try to yank the shoe out, but it's as if it's been glued down. Had Rye gotten stuck here, and taken off his shoe? "Rye!" I call out. There's no answer, just as I expected.

A tear rolls down my cheek as I continue dragging the deer back to my home.

I find Willow and Peeta in the living room when I get back. "Did you catch that?" Peeta asks, noticing the deer. "Yes," I reply stiffly, "I'm going to skin it in the backyard. But you're cooking it."

At supper, Willow doen't speak. Peeta and I try to start a conversation, but we fail. Willow picks at her slab of deer, but doesn't eat it. It's very strange, because ever since she was little, deer had always been her favorite meal. "Eat," I tell her. "I'm not hungry," she says. "Your brother would eat," Peeta says. Willow looks at him coldly. She about to say something when suddenly, Peeta throws himself backward in the chair and topples over, screaming. "Peeta!" I shout. "Fog... fog..." he repeats. "What's he thinking about?" Willow asks urgently. "The arena," I say. Peeta starts shaking, and as I hold his hand tightly, I can see what he sees: our blistering skin, Finnick's cry for Mags, our struggle to stay alive, and the forcefield where the fog stopped. I feel myself starting to get taken over by the fear boiling in my gut, until Willow starts sobbing.

"Stop it!" she screams. I look up, even though Peeta is still seizuring out on the floor. "Willow-"

"No, listen to me!" she cries, "I can't stand it anymore, every day its the same thing- screaming and crying and... freaking out. Just... _stop it!_ "

I let go of Peeta's hand and stand up. "You don't know _anything_ about what Peeta and I have gone through!" I shout. Willow sobs and runs into her room without another word.

I turn back to Peeta and I strike his arm stiffly. He snaps out of his 'vision'. "Katniss..?" Peeta says. I look back at him, and help him up. "What was Willow saying?" he asks. "She just... was frustrated," I decide. Peeta wraps his arms around me. I rest my head on his shoulder, savoring with warmth he gives me. "You love me. Real or not real?" Peeta asks. "I've already told you: Real," I say. Peeta sighs. "I'm sorry," he says. My grip tightens on him when he says this. "It's... okay," I whisper. We both know that's a big 'not real', but I say it anyway. Peeta's breath tickles me ear and I giggle. His hands wrap around my neck, and I flinch, remembering when he tried to choke me long ago. "It's okay," Peeta assures me, and his forehead rests on mine.

Suddenly, there's two hard knocks on the front door. I sigh, pull away from Peeta, and walk out of the dining room. I open the front door in the living room. There's a young boy, probably thirteen or fourteen years old, with dark hair and grey eyes. Heck, if I hadn't known, I could've guessed the kid was _my_ son, he looked so much like me. "Um, hello," I utter slowly. The boy takes something off his back- a quiver. "Do you hunt?" I ask, trying to start a conversation with the boy. A smile forms on his face and his eyes meet mine. "Yes," he says. Peeta appears behind me, his hand on my shoulder, eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Peeta Mellark?" the boy snaps. His eyes narrow. Peeta glances at me, obviously wondering how this kid knew his name. "Go back in the kitchen, and I'll handle this," I say. He does.

"Now, would you mind telling me how you- someone I don't even know- know my husband's name?" I ask the boy in front of me. He lets himself inside the house and drops his quiver on the sofa. "My father told me about him," he says to me. "Okay, now who are _you?"_ I ask him. The boy's eyes widen. "My father hasn't visited you and... told you about me?" he asks. "No..." I say. The boy wears a frown as he says, "My name is Birch Hawthorne. I'm Gale Hawthorne's kid." My breath hitches when I hear Gale's name. "Why are you here?" I swallow hard. Birch runs his tongue across his teeth- a habit Willow has. "Rye's gone missing," he says. "How do you know that?!... And shouldn't you be in District 2 with Gale!?" I ask.

Birch sighs. "My father left my mother for another. Me and her have lived here ever since," he explains, "And how I know about Rye? I saw him yesterday." My breath hitches. "Was he okay?" I quickly ask. Birch blinks, like he needs to remember. "Yeah... just a little... ratty looking. You know?" he says. _Ratty looking?_ "What do you mean?" I demand. Birch shrugs. "Torn shirt, dirty pants, messy hair. He was missing a shoe, too," he says. _Okay, I'm convinced._

"Where did he go? Did you help him? Do you know where he is?" I start spitting out questions, tears filling my eyes. "Well, I saw him by the lake in the woods. And he seemed to be stuck or something between two rocks. But then, he took off his shoe and ran towards the meadow," Birch says. I nod slowly. "Thank you for telling me," I tell him. He puts his quiver back on and opens the front door. "Bye, Katniss."

"Peeta!" I cry. He comes into the room before I can even finish saying his name.

"Gale's son saw Rye- and he said Rye ran towards the meadow," I say. "Wait, shouldn't he be in District 2, then?" he asks. "The kid said he and his mom have lived here ever since... Gale left his mom for another woman," I mumble. Peeta sits beside and puts his arm around my shoulders. "How do you know he's not lying?" he asks. "Because he told me that he saw Rye taking off his shoe in the woods, and I... _found_ his shoe in the woods," I reply, "he also said that he saw Rye running towards the meadow." Peeta stands up. "Then we know what we have to do," he says. "What?" I ask, standing up next to him. "We have to search for Rye in the meadow," he tells me. I shake my head. "He could be anywhere. I doubt he'd still be there," I say. Peeta shrugs. "It can't hurt to look," he decides. I sigh, and grab my jacket.

Considering, the fact that Peeta and I just lost are son, you would think we would be quick to not leave Willow alone by herself. But thinking about how she screamed at me about our 'moments', kinda made me want to lock her in her room until we came back.  
But of course, Peeta insisted on bringing her along.

We were wandering through the meadow, the golden sun sitting on the horizon. I kick the daises and buttercups as I walk. Peeta leads us, but we just walk around in circles. And during all this, I have to listen to Willow's crying the whole time. "I miss my brother!" and "We won't _ever_ find him!" and "You're getting us lost!"  
I'm ready to scream at her to stop crying, when Peeta stops walking. "Rye!" he shouts. Under the orange and red sky, I see a little blonde head and beady grey eyes, hiding beside a mossy log. "Rye!" I call out with Peeta. We stay where we are, but Willow runs straight towards him. "Ah!" Rye yelps, and disappears over a hill. I put my hands over my eyes and crouch to my knees. "He's okay... he's okay... he's not hurt... he's not hurt..." I chant to myself quietly. Peeta rubs my back, but tears streak down his face, too. Willow throws her hands up in the air, marching over to us. "You scared him away!" she screams. I grit my teeth, but don't look at her. Willow stamps her foot. "I want to go home!" she cries. Peeta helps me up onto my feet, and I wrap my arms around him. "We were so close," I whisper, "So close to getting him back." A salty tear rolls down my face and hangs on my lip. For a moment, as the sky turns purple, I lose all of my hope. Every bad thing I had ever thought swarms my head, but the one thought that's loudest, the one that repeats itself over again, is simple:

I'm never getting my son back.


	3. Drop Off

**Sorry, it's been so long!  
I tried to make this chapter a little more... well... better. :)  
Thanks for all the comments, and I will ****_definitely_** **take your thoughts into consideration.  
Enjoy this chapter! :D**

After Rye disappeared behind the hill, I broke down in tears. Silent ones, you know, the ones that you try to keep back but can't, and they just spill out while you silently weep to yourself about how much your life sucks.

Now, I'm back home, on the couch, with Peeta, talking about what we should do next. "We almost had him, Peeta!" I shout to him over the crackling fire. "Katniss, I _know_! But what can we do now? Nothing we do now can change anything in the past!" he snaps back. I scoff and turn around. I see Willow's doors ajar, and a gentle face peering at me. "Willow, shut your door," I say, not hesitant to yell at her. "She's only caused us frustration since Rye's left," I turn back around. Peeta shrugs. "She hasn't caused _me_ any frustration," he says. "Okay, fine," I correct myself, "she's caused _me_ frustration."  
Peeta looks down at the fireplace, and sighs.

"Then what do we do?" he asks. I cross my arms. "We bring her to Haymitch," I say matter-of-factly. "Why? She has school... tomorrow _is_ Monday," Peeta says, "That'll give us a good few hours to look for Rye."  
I shake my head. "We need _days_. Hours just isn't enough," I say. Peeta looks out the window and swallows hard. "Okay," he nods. "We can bring her to Haymitch's at dawn, and leave Willow there for three days. And then we look for Rye," I offer. Peeta nods again. "But shouldn't we tell Haymitch first, and not just... show up at his door with Willow?" he asks. I shrug. "What's the worst he can do?"

Me and Peeta wake up at five in the morning the next day. While he gets dressed, I pop on my robe and walk into Willow's room. "Wake up," I tell her, turning the light on. "Ugh... just five more minutes..." Willow groans, turning onto her side. "You're not going to school," I tell her. She slowly opens her eyes and asks, "Why?" Then she smiles and says, "Wait, never mind. Any day home from school is a good day."

And with that, she buries herself under her quilts, falling back asleep. "You're not staying home either," I say, dragging the quilts off of my daughter. Willow bolts upright. "Where am I going?" she shouts. "You'll see," I tell her. She gets dressed, and I do, too.

Haymitch doesn't live far from our house. It takes about fifteen minutes to walk to his home, and by then, Willow is getting frustrated. "Why won't you tell us where we are _going?!_ " she stops abruptly. Peeta and I refuse to answer her redundant question, and as we continue walking, Willow is forced to keep up.

Eventually, we see Haymitch's house at the end of a dirt road. He got a new one built, close to mine, just in case I needed help with anything.

Peeta, Willow, and I let ourselves inside the house, and we can see Haymitch, sleeping on the couch- his hand gripped tightly around his knife. "Haymitch!" I shout to him. He stirs, and when the door slams shut behind us, he wakes up. "Wha...?" he mumbles. Then, his eyes meet Willow's. "Well, hello, sweetheart," he says, "You must be Willow Mellark."  
Willow glances at me. "How does he know my name...?" she whispers. I sigh. Willow never met Haymitch before, but I've told him _everything_ about her. Haymitch turns to Peeta and I and asks, "What do you need?"

"Rye is gone," I say through gritted teeth. Haymitch pouts. "How unfortunate," he shrugs, reaching for his bottle of liquor on the table. _How unfortu- what the hell does that mean?!_

Tears build up in my eyes, and Peeta must see them, because he quickly says, "It's not just 'unfortunate'. It's a big deal."  
Haymitch grunts. "Sweetheart, tell me why you're here. You need help finding the kid? Need a drink? What?" he asks. I look down at Willow, and then to Peeta, and then Haymitch. "We're leaving Willow with you for three days," I say. Willow throws her arms in the air.

"WHAT?!" she screams. Haymitch shrugs. "Alright, sweetheart. But three days at the most- or else she's going out on the curb," he chuckles. I sigh, having to hear Willow's cries of disapproval. "No, no, no! You are _not_ leaving me with this _drunk_! Not for three days, not for two days, not for _one_ day! I am _not_ going to-"

Peeta grabs her shoulder and shouts, "Listen to me, Willow! We are your parents and you are going to do what _we_ tell you! Not the other way other way around! Always nagging us, always needing things _your_ way!"

Willow's bottom lip quivers as Peeta's voice echoes throughout the house.

"Not anymore, Willow! Just because you're a teenager now, it doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want! So when Katniss and I tell you do something, you _do it_! Am I clear?!"

When he finishes talking...well, _screaming_... Willow wipes a tear from her cheek and nods.  
Haymitch looks at him for a second, and says, "A little frustrated, aren't we?"

Peeta lets out an exhausted sigh. "Haymitch, deal with her yourself. Katniss and I have to go."

Haymitch lays back down on the couch and closes his eyes. "Darling, can you get me a bottle of liquor from the cabinets?" he asks. Willow trudges into the kitchen, where the bottle-filled cabinets hang on the walls.

Peeta and I walk out of the house. A flurry of snowflakes fall from the sky.  
"We need to go back at the meadow," I tell Peeta. "Didn't he run _away_ from the meadow yesterday?" he lifts his eyebrows. "Okay, _fine_. Where do _you_ think we should look?" I snap. "Um..."

"Exactly. That's why we're going to the meadow."

I drag him along with me, and the snow starts to get worse. By the time we get to the meadow, the snow is so thick we can barely see each other.

"How will we find him we can't see three feet in front of us?" Peeta grunts.

For a long while, we don't speak to each other, we just search. Behind trees, across the river, in the mossy logs. We look _everywhere_.

"We aren't going to find him," Peeta finally says. "Can you _not_ say that?" I ask. Peeta reaches out and touches my arm. "Katniss, listen," he tells me, "He could literally be _anywhere._ I say we go home, cuddle up, and search in the morning."

"And what? Make this whole trip worth _nothing_?"

I groan, throwing my head back. I was so discouraged. Peeta was angry at me. And Willow probably wanted to slap me. "Okay, fine. Do you want to keep looking? We'll probably get hypothermia and we won't be able to look for Rye for a _week_ ," Peeta says. I hold onto his arm, just so I know where he is. Not that I didn't hate him at the moment.

"Go home, Peeta. I don't care. But I'm still looking. I don't care if I freeze to death, but I'm not going to stop until I find my son," I tell Peeta. His eyes widen, and he shakes his arm from my grip. "Goodbye, Katniss. Pick up Willow from Haymitch's when you come to your senses," he says.  
And with that, he disappears into the snow.

"Peeta, wait! I didn't actually _mean_ it!" I shout. But he's gone. And I don't really have a choice of what I do now.


End file.
